Quebec ministers featured prominently in the cabinet committee shuffle last week, among them Tourism Minister Mélanie Joly and Justice Minister David Lametti.

Families Minister Jean-Yves Duclos now holds two cabinet committee vice-chair jobs, one on Treasury Board and another with the Committee on Growing the Middle Class and Inclusion. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Observers say that among the few changes made to cabinet committee membership last week, the prominence given to Quebec ministers is most interesting, with one former cabinet minister highlighting Families Minister Jean-Yves Duclos’s new post as vice-chair of the Treasury Board as a “significant” development.

Gerald Butts has removed himself from the daily political grind of strategizing how to keep the Liberals in power. But observers say it's unlikely he will be consigned to watch the campaign unfold from the sidelines.

SNC-Lavalin risks a takeover if it's convicted. But aside from likely outrage in Quebec, Ottawa can find other builders for its infrastructure plans if the company is banned from bidding on federal contracts, experts say

The Quebec company had extensive access to government ministers and top staffers, and was the only organization registered to lobby for allowing deferred prosecution agreements for white collar crimes.